


The Dream of a Caterpillar

by NightmairHavader



Category: Persona Series
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:30:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23666164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightmairHavader/pseuds/NightmairHavader
Summary: “Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was myself. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.”― Zhuangzi, The Butterfly as Companion: Meditations on the First Three Chapters of the Chuang-TzuLife should be easy for a child, they should not have many stressors in life.  Then there is Nathan, he’s had a rough childhood, being rotated from babysitter to babysitter.  His family being too busy to really take care of him.  On top of all that his life has been tied up in a game, an unfair game, one nobody asks for but the gears of the universe rotate us ever closer to this game.  How will you play your version of the game?
Comments: 1





	1. The Blue Caterpillar

“He’s nothing but a fool if you ask me, but if you really want to wager on him then fine. It’s no concern of mine when he fails you.” This arrogant voice boomed in the darkness, as if the volume corresponded to him being right. “This is nothing but a game, with the odds in my favor.”  
“I have learned much since Alice, humans have the will to fight, though he is but a child he holds great potential.” This second voice was much softer, but still arrogant, his reply seemingly well thought out.  
The darkness began to fade as Nathan’s eyes adjusted, and what he saw perplexed him. He was floating is a blue expanse littered with lights that danced like stars; in the distance he could see two figures standing in a gazebo. One was radiating an offensively golden light with a head seemingly two sizes bigger than it should be. The other was in a white suit, emblazoned with blue butterfly markings; he wore a full face mask with an emperor butterfly spread out over the nose region.  
“Hmm…? So you called him here, trying to get a headstart?” The booming voiced one looked in Nathan’s direction. “No matter, he won’t understand it anyways...”  
“He came of his own accord, the room is yet to be set up for him. Don’t underestimate the power of children,” the masked one spoke so matter of factly he must be smirking under the mask.  
Nathan’s vision began to blur again before he was lost in darkness. What did they mean by a game? What did have to do with it? Who was the golden one? There were too many questions, and not enough focus as Nathan left REM sleep.   
Nathan woke up, dazed as he tried to remember the details of the fleeting dream. He looked to his alarm clock just as his alarm went off. He shut the alarm off, rolling out of bed and lazily walking to the dresser. All he could remember by now was being called a fool. Switching into his cargo shorts and a blue t-shirt with a golden 12 on it. The shirt was getting snug, he had received it after he played soccer last year but he must be growing faster than he realized. He jumped as he heard the door loudly creak open.  
“Ah, so you’re awake…” it was Nathan’s father, “breakfast is almost ready so head on down.” As usual his father was apathetic, the two of them never really being close.  
“Okay Dad,” interactions with his family were hard, “be right there.” Grabbing his homework he placed it into the blue folder and stuffed it into his bag. Slinging the backpack over one shoulder he headed downstairs.  
“Oh, Morning Nathan,” Nathan’s mother was much chipper compared to his father. “Here you go,” She slid Nathan pancakes and eggs, “we probably won’t be back until late, are you sure you’ll be okay?” Her concern was sincere, but she already knew it was an empty question, they had no choice but to leave him alone. His parents worked at a nearby hospital, his dad an RN, his mother a nutritionist.  
“I’ll be fine, Tiffany lives down the road so I’ll probably be over there so I won’t be lonely.” Nathan knew Tiffany well enough that she’d want to hang out after school. “Just do good at work…” For a fifth grader Nathan was quite conscious about the working habits of his parents.  
“Just be safe, it may be a small town but we still worry.” His mother looked a little dispirited, but she knew that he did not want to worry them.  
“I’m off to school,” Nathan slipped on his converse shoes, opting out of wearing tennis shoes since he didn’t have gym today. He slipped out the front door and turned to the road, it was a foggy morning so he knew that he would need to be extra careful crossing the street near the school.  
Within 10 minutes he was across from the Lone Oak Elementary school, it was his last year here yet he didn’t feel ready for middle school. He carefully looked both ways, twice, before heading across the street, but he heard the familiar sound of a car coming so he jogged the rest of the way across.  
The car came careening down the road and skid off the road onto the sidewalk straight for Nathan. Nathan barely had time to react when a cloaked figure appeared and slammed into the car stopping it in its tracks then disappeared. Before the figure completely disappeared Nathan heard “I art Thou, Thou art I.” Nathan then collapsed, his head felt like it was splitting open. A few police cars pulled up a few seconds later, a set of officers went to arrest the driver while one approached Nathan.  
“Hey, hey Kid you okay?” The officer knelt down to try and get a response, “Do we need to call your parents?” That question snapped Nathan back to reality.  
“No, I’m fine officer…” Nathan got up with some help from the officer, “wh-what happened?” Nathan was still dazed but was able to stand.  
“We’re expecting a drunk driver,” the officer looked to his partners pulling the driver out of the car, “Not sure how he managed to stop before he could hit you.” The officers were shoving the driver into the back of the squad car as the driver was mumbling about his wife. “Sure you’re okay to go to school?”  
Nathan rubbed his temples, “yeah, i’m just going to see the nurse…” Nathan headed away from the scene and into school. A group of kindergarteners had been following right behind him. He stuffed his bag into his locker and headed into the nurse’s office.  
The nurse was a new woman, although Nathan was caught off guard. “Hello I’m Jubi, what’s wrong? School hasn’t started yet.” Jubi was a radiant woman, she emitted an aura of exuberance.  
“Uh… I need something for a headache…” Nathan was used to the old nurse so he was not sure how to address her.  
“Oh,” Jubi took Nathan’s temperature, “Okay here you go…” she handed him a small cup with acetaminophen and some water. “Come back after lunch if it continues.”  
“Uh, yes ma’am” Nathan slowly got up and headed to his homeroom. As he put his stuff down he noticed that there was a new guy sitting at the teacher’s desk. “Um… where’s Mrs. Samuels?”  
“We’ll address that once we start,” his voice was calm and smooth, much different from Mrs. Samuels scratchy voice. Nathan thought his eyes were red but when he looked again they were hazel.  
“Oh, okay” Nathan was confused, it was only September and they replaced their teacher for seemingly no reason. Nathan set his backpack in the back of the classroom in his cubby. As long as the homework for science was still due he was fine.  
The new teacher got up and wrote the name Mr. Akuma on the chalkboard, “Hello class, I’m Mr. Akuma, your new teacher for the rest of the year. Now-” he was interrupted by a tan girl shooting her hand up, “uh, yes… Tiffany was it?”  
“Did something happen to Mrs. Samuels?” Tiffany’s voice was full of concern but she ended on a hopeful note.  
“Well, yes, she was called back home to Washington to take care of family matters.” Mr. Akuma was oddly precise and poignant about his answer, it was obvious that there was more to the story.  
“Oh, okay…” Tiffany put her hand down and looked sad. She was normally really upbeat but this seemed to have gotten to her.  
The rest of class went well, the students were slow on warming up to Mr. Akuma. Nathan’s head was still hurting from the incident with the drunk driver and he just could not focus. Eventually it was time for lunch and recess, Mr Akuma held up the class, “Okay, everyone have fun we’ll start back up with Science when you get back so work on the homework if you haven’t done it.”  
Nathan picked at his food and barely drank his milk before throwing it all away and heading outside. Nathan’s head felt dulled but it was not hurting anymore. Nathan stood in the shadows near the school, not wanting to risk causing another headache from bright light.  
Nathan picked his head up as he heard two bombers flying overhead, he saw something falling out of the sky and felt his stomach drop. He ran out to the playground where everyone was oblivious to the danger. He noticed the teachers were not paying attention either and knew what this could mean. Suddenly his head felt like it was splitting open again as a giant man holding up what appears to be a satellite dish. This giant caught the bomb in the dish and it harmlessly slid it away and disappeared before the teachers looked up. But again Nathan heard “Thou art I, the sacrifice of one for the betterment of the all.” The teachers rushed over to Nathan as he had collapsed and had a little blood oozing from his temples.  
Nathan opened his eyes and was surprised at what he saw. He seemed to be in an observatory with a gazebo in the middle for some reason. He stood up and looked around, the chair he had been sitting in had the number XII carved into it. In the center of the room there were two men, the full masked man from his earlier dream he didn’t remember. The other man was just odd, his arms and legs were proportionately longer than his torso, and his nose reminded Nathan of Pinocchio.  
The butterfly man turned to Nathan first, “ah welcome to My Velvet Room. We meet at last…” the man stepped forward, “My name is Phiremon, and I am the curator of this room. Funny how large this room has become, you must have a large heart or you’re special…” Phiremon chuckled to himself, “I leave you in the capable hands of Igor, my assistant.” As he turned around he disappeared leaving a trail of butterflies.  
“Ah so you’re the guest of honor, welcome my name is Igor” Igor sat down at a table under the Gazebo. “Tis a funny power you behold, Personas don’t tend to appear in the physical world.” Igor held up two velvet blue cards and handed them over. “Maybe this power can be spread to the other guests…” Igor looked around the room, “this room exists between consciousness and unconsciousness, mind and matter. For the room to be taken to such a scale is quite the feat, how does this reflect your heart I wonder? Go ahead and take your seat and return to sleep, we shall speak soon”


	2. The Sun Rises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when others are drawn into our game? Do the odds tilt in our favor or away from us?

Nathan slowly opened his eyes, the cold compress sliding off of his face. “Oh good, you’re awake, guess we won’t need to call an ambulance.” Jubi seemed excited, “the teachers found you passed out on the playground with blood on your temples. I couldn’t find any lacerations or injuries, but I did clean up the blood.” Jubi sighed, “I said see me after lunch if your headache returned or worsened. Think you can return to class?”  
“Oh uh… yeah” Nathan was still dazed from the weird dream. The large observatory lingering in the back of his mind. He said he was fine but the headache had returned but he did not want to be a bother to the new nurse and teacher on the same day.  
Nathan returned to his seat in the classroom, the others whispering about what had happened at lunch. He tried to ignore their rumors, after all he only had about an hour left of class. He immediately began to write the notes written on the board but slowly began to disassociate.  
The shrill ringing of the end of school bell snapped Nathan out of his daze. He was mentally tired still from the events overnight. He grabbed his notebook and noticed the mindless doodles he had been making during the class. Interlocking gears covered the margins of his page, very few actual notes had been written. He shut the notebook and put it away with his pencils.   
“NATHAN!” Tiffany’s voice pierced his thoughts and he jumped away before looking at her. She had pale blue jeans and a purple top on. Her dark hair was back up in the ponytail on top of her hair with a red scrunchie, her bright green eyes glimmered with excitement.   
“Sheesh… you nearly scared me to death…” Nathan recomposed himself and continued to pack his belongings away. Scared probably wasn’t the right word, he was startled back into reality after all.   
“Well you weren’t responding so… but anyways, my parents are coming back into town, and was thinking you could use the socialization…” Tiffany’s smile was as bright as ever.   
“Oh, sorry…” with Nathan’s parents’ jobs they would be home late so he had time to hang out. “Uh… sure…” he slung his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the class with Tiffany.   
“So where is your family from? My father’s family originally came from Egypt; my mother’s family came from England but that was long ago” Tiffany bounced as she walked through the hallway and out of the school with Nathan.   
“Oh, uh… I’m pretty sure both sides came from Germany… We don’t talk about ancestry much… We don’t talk much anyways…” Nathan’s voice kept trailing off every time he thought of his family, they barely spent time together, Family dinners only happened like once a week. And on those lucky nights everyone is too tired to interact with each other.  
“Oh? Don’t your parents ever ask you about school or just want to talk?” Tiffany was still as happy as ever even though such a family dynamic confused her. Her Family was so tight knit that almost everything was shared at dinner time.   
“Um… no, we never get to talk…” Nathan’s voice trailed off and he quickly had to snap his attention back to the conversation. “My parents work near constantly so there’s very few times we really interact… Moving up here I feel like we aren’t really going to do much for the holidays…” Family has always been an awkward subject for Nathan. His parent’s had been distant from as long as he remembered. His parents’ had been told that Nathan had been too intelligent to receive federally funded Preschool, he could remember the look of exasperation they had when looking for someone to watch him.   
When Nathan snapped out of his daze, they had made it almost to the bus station. Tiffany had tilted her head, her hair blowing in the gentle breeze from the west. Nathan shivered as the breeze passed by him. Something felt wrong about the road today.   
“You sure do daze out often…” looking up the road she could see the bus on the horizon. “That’s them! They’re almost home again!” Tiffany got excited and was trembling, business had called them away but now they were returning after 3 days.   
Nathan noticed a snap of blue and orange around the bus, and it started to skid out of control. Nathan flinched at the sound of metal at asphalt, being unable to react to get to Tiffany. If he was unable to do anything they were as good as dead, as well as the passengers.   
“No! Mom! Dad!” Tiffany had panicked instantly; her family was everything to her. Losing them would leave her lost in the world. She buckled under the anxiety, collapsing to the ground. The bus was swerving all over the road as it approached them.   
Nathan collapsed in a panic attack, he saw blood dripping onto the ground and looked up. Dark brown mottled fur filled his vision but as his vision cleared he saw hooves digging into the asphalt, the bus screeching to a halt. The new figure slumped unto the ground, dissolving into a card in front of Nathan. He could now recognize the figure; it had been a Minotaur, the card titled ‘VII-MINOTAUR’ glowing in front of him. Nathan finally collapsed onto the concrete sidewalk.   
“Nathan! Oh God he’s bleeding from his head…” Tiffany had rushed over to his unconscious body and remembered the Bus. “No… They’re hurt too…” the stress was all too much on Tiffany, and all of a sudden her head felt as if it was splitting open.   
“I art thou, Joy is to be shared the world, not suffering.” A woman stepped over to Nathan, she laid her hand on his head and when she lifted it a gel had been spread on his wound. She turned fully to Tiffany revealing the rest of her appearance; her face was very similar to an Abyssinian cat. A smile spread over her face as she turned towards the bus and entered it.   
Nathan regained consciousness as the woman stepped out of the bus. Her skin was lightly tanned, free of any blemishes. The fur of her face seamlessly blended with her skin on her chest. Her white tunic fluttered in the breeze as she slowly started to fade. “Another Persona?” he looked around for another card but found nothing.   
Tiffany had ended up passing out away from Nathan. He grabbed the Minotaur card and pocketed it. As he walked towards Tiffany he saw the shimmering blue glow of a card in her hand.   
Nathan frantically crawled over to Tiffany to try and wake her. “Come on Tiffany wake up, I can do it so can you…”  
The bus was being evacuated, and a red headed white woman and dark olive colored man ran over. “Tiffany! Tiffany!” The woman knelt down on the other side of the young girl. “Nathan, what happened?”  
Nathan was caught off guard, how was he to explain what happened when he barely understood himself. “I’m not sure, we saw the bus coming and then all of a sudden everything was a mess.”  
“Honey,” Tiffany’s father was trying to remain calm, “you saw that bull that the bus hit head on...” He could barely believe that there was a bull large enough to stop a bus. Looking around the wreckage of the bus stop he could not find a trace of the bull.  
“Urr...ugh…” Tiffany was starting to come to her eyes flitting open, “Mom? Dad?” Her eyes began to swell with tears, “you’re okay!” She hugged her mother tight and her mother returned the hug.  
“I uh... should head on home…” Nathan got up and started on his way home, he was exhausted and needed to rest desperately. He was uncomfortable with this close knit family structure.  
“Nathan, we will need to tell your parents what happened here, be sure to have them call us tomorrow.” Tiffany’s father was stern about this, “other than that have a good night.”  
“Oh uh… okay I’ll be sure to let them know tonight…” He knew he wouldn’t see them but he could always leave a note. Nathan was definitely going to bed early tonight, he did not think he could handle any more excitement for today. He shut the front door to his house slowly, his head still pounding. Nathan wrote a quick note and placed it on the counter where his mother usually puts her keys. Nathan washed up real quickly and slipped into bed, slipping into a heavy sleep almost immediately.


	3. The Sun Shines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What are Dreams Can they be more than just random scenarios our brains run to keep active? Can they bring use useful insights into what we should be doing?

As Nathan became aware of his senses he knew where he was, The Velvet Room. When he was able to open his eyes and looked around, nothing had changed, save for a chair a ways away from him that had been marked with XIX. Currently it was unoccupied, Igor sitting in the middle of the room at the table. Nathan got up and walked to Igor, ready to ask questions.  
“Our other guest shall join us soon…” Igor’s words were very straight to the point. “The Trio should be arriving shortly, please refer to them with any questions.” Igor’s voice started to become choppy, still unaccustomed to being used this extensively.  
The trio approached from an archway behind Igor, Nathan immediately noticed Mr. Akuma. Next to Mr. Akuma was a woman with a silver stripe that went back with the rest of her black hair. On her other side was a man with almost blue black hair drawn back into a ponytail and a bandanna over his eyes.  
“Nathan? So that’s what must’ve happened at lunch...” Akuma stood aside, “these are the other attendants of the Velvet Room, Belladonna and Nameless”  
“Ah, Nathan…” Belladonna’s voice boomed throughout the room, startling Nathan. “Ah, yes…” her voice got softer, ”I forget about the acoustic properties of this room.” She led the Trio to the table, it slowly elongating to fit the 5 of them.  
Nameless took a seat on the other side of the table away from Nathan. “It seems that your friend has yet to join us… Akuma put them down…” Akuma had started to place 4 figurines on the table.  
Nathan recognized the first figurine as Minotaur. The second figure was of the Cat woman that had been at the bus crash, although it felt as if it was fused to the table. Nathan could easily move and pick up Minotaur, the third and the fourth figurine with no hassle. As he looked at the third figurine he realized it was the cloaked figure with a drama mask on. The fourth figure was the giant but now he noticed that the satellite dish actually was the southern hemisphere of a globe  
“You probably noticed that you couldn’t move Bast but the others you can move.” Nameless smirked, “because Bast is Tiffany’s personal Persona only she can manipulate her. Just as Ophelia can only be moved by you, and Minotaur and Atlas can be moved by anyone.” Another foundation was placed on the table by Akuma, “and that will be the next Persona you call out… Or someone got excited and crafted an extra foundation…” Akuma glared at Nameless as Nameless chuckled.  
Nathan looked over to the chair that had been marked with the XIX, a blotch of red and orange had appeared and slowly Tiffany materialized. Her outfit was plain pajamas with a red top and orange pants with flame design. Her hair fell loose behind her back, reaching about halfway down her back. Nathan had never looked down at himself; he was wearing loose fitting pajamas as well. The design was simple black and navy waves with golden ropes sprawling out from the arm and leg openings. He knew he did not own such an outfit, so he was curious.  
Tiffany rubbed her eyes sleepily, “uh…” she looked around the room dazed by the details. “What the?” she got out of the chair and looked around more. She eventually saw Nathan and the others and approached them. “Nathan? You’re here? What is this place? It feels so real…”  
“Igor called it The Velvet Room… so I assume that’s what we should call it as well… I came here the night after that incident at lunch…” Nathan looked to the others for help explaining the situation.  
“Oh yeah, that was cool” Tiffany saw the look of confusion on Nathan’s face. “What? It was! All of a sudden you’re running towards us and that giant appeared and caught the bomb and safely moved it…” she was way too giddy to be describing a near death situation, bouncing as she walked towards him.  
“WE ALMOST DIED!” Nathan was shocked, he knew she was quite optimistic but this was a whole new disturbing level to him.  
“Oh…. WAIT WHAT?” Tiffany grew red as she realized the actuality of what happened, stopping in her tracks. “But then what about the Bus? It was out of control but everything turned out fine… Well there was that bull thingy and the cat lady…”  
Nathan was stunned, he had never dealt with anyone so positive, “if it wasn’t for Minotaur the bus would have killed us and probably everyone else on board…” Nathan shook his head, eyes closed; when he opened them again Tiffany was at the table playing with the Persona figurines.  
“Oh so this one is Minotaur…” she had picked him up and spun him around looking at the features, ”oh, then what about this one? She was there… she put this weird goo on your head and went into the bus…”  
Belladonna gently pushed Nathan down onto a chair by the table, “That is Bast, she was awakened from within you…” Belladonna moved to where she could see Tiffany’s face clearly. “She was born from your desire to help people and your sheer optimism that pain is temporary.” She smiled softly, “You may call me Belladonna outside of school, you know Akuma and Nameless as well…”  
Nameless stepped forward, “this room exists between Dreams and Reality… so while you are asleep at home, your consciousness is here, thus the feeling of everything being real… Nathan, you may return to sleep…”  
“Okay…” Nathan was glad he could let them explain to Tiffany, but then he remembered he had a question. “Oh there was a flash of orange and light blue before the Bus spun out of control…”  
Akuma put up his hand to stop Nathan from talking and held up two figurines. One was mostly white with blue boots, hat and a collar. It was smiling brightly, almost friendly but had a mischievous look to it. The other floated above the foundation, a smiling Jack-o-lantern with a blue floppy witch hat and cloak holding a lantern. Akuma placed them on the table and there were two clicks that echoed in Nathan’s head.  
“Ah, the Jack Brothers… He managed to contain them after you left… they’re not usually so mean spirited, but they were fresh demons…” Belladonna looked at the figurines, “the bus must’ve driven past a hellhole and they hitched a ride… and well, got bored…” Belladonna smiled, reassuring Nathan everything would be fine.  
“A... Hellhole?” Tiffany was back to being confused, her family was more spiritual than a strict religious. “What do you mean? They took I-70 back home...”  
Akuma spoke up, “rumor has it there’s a spot in Stull that is weakened and connected to Hell.” His voice was very matter of fact, much different from his classroom voice. “They probably just leapt from vehicle to vehicle until reaching the interstate.”  
Belladonna and Nameless went to a piano and started performing the Aria of the Soul. As the song went on Nathan felt more at peace, relaxing in a strange way. Nathan was perplexed however by how Belladonna covered her ears.  
Igor cleared his throat, “now Nathan you need to rest and we need to discuss young Tiffany’s path. So if you could return to your seat,” Igor beckoned to the marked chair against the wall.  
As Nathan sat down and closed his eyes he started to fade into a dream. The last thing he could make of The Velvet Room was Igor’s voice saying, “ Third card The Death…”  
For the rest of the night Nathan was plagued with images of what could have been the previous day. Each time his injuries became more and more grotesque.  
Nathan shot up in bed, a Jack Frost doll flying into the wall; it got up and sat on the corner of Nathan’s desk. His alarm clock was thrown across the floor, he picked up the doll of Jack Frost, the cold air of his room freezing against his sweat drenched skin. The doll flopped lifelessly even though Nathan saw it move on its own. The alarm clock threw Nathan into a panic, he had barely enough time left to run to school if he left.  
Nathan ran out the door and was stopped by a brand new red Ford Thunderbird, the passenger door flew open and Jubi motioned for him to get in. They sped off to the school, “well you are up late… A nightmare it seems?“  
Nathan was still shaking; he had managed to put a green T-shirt and jeans on. “Yeah… it…. Was bad…. I… I don’t even…. Know what happened…” He tried to look back on it but all he did was shake more and wanted to vomit. The car slid into a parking space and Nathan’s stomach lurched.  
Jubi put her hand on his back, “don’t focus on it, everything will be fine…” With her words Nathan’s mind was at ease, he also stopped shaking as well. “If things get bad again come to the office…”  
Nathan nodded and stepped out of the car and headed to his homeroom. He could tell it was going to be a long day, and the nightmare would haunt him. Belladonna had caught him off guard. “Uh… how are you?” Nathan was confused as he still thought of the Velvet Room as just a dream.  
“Oh you’re here… good, did Akuma’s doll help?” Belladonna’s voice was full of concern, but she calmed down as Nathan nodded. “If you have problems waking up the doll will wake you up. Don’t push yourself, you need to relax, let your friends help you…” Belladonna walked him to class and rushed off. Nathan took a deep breath to collect himself before entering the classroom, he had to stay strong even if he thought he was going crazy.  
“Ah Nathan, nice of you to join us” Akuma smirked, “don’t worry we haven’t started.” Akuma waited for Nathan to sit down before continuing, “now there’s a new set up for music class, we now have Ms. Donna and Mr. Jadon leading the class. Now then follow me” Akuma led the class over to the Arts hallway and stood by the door as the class went inside, shutting the door after Tiffany and Nathan entered whispering to them.” Now don’t make a fuss about them being here, have fun”  
Nathan and Tiffany gave him a strange look as they entered the class freezing as they met the gaze of Ms. Donna and Mr. Jadon. It was Belladonna and Nameless, although dressed down to look more professional and well human. Nameless was not wearing his bandanna but was wearing dark tinted glasses, his eyes obscured.  
“You’re those peo- Ow” Tiffany flinched as Nathan pinched her, it was obvious to him what was meant by Mr. Akuma.  
The rest of classes went by smoothly, with Nathan only moderately disassociating towards the end of the day.  
Tiffany was waiting for Nathan outside the classroom but Akuma caught him first, “make sure you keep what has happened in the Velvet Room a secret from others. Granted we don’t think anyone would believe you but better not to start rumors, now get some rest, you look like you need it.”  
“What was that about?” Tiffany nearly smacked into Nathan as he turned out of the classroom.  
“Oh god,” Nathan took a step back, “stop trying to scare me, it’s working.” Nathan shook his head and stepped out and around Tiffany. “He was just saying to keep the Velvet Room a secret. Think you can manage that?” Nathan was close to Tiffany and knew how much she talked about anything and everything.  
“Oh… uh I think so…” Tiffany backed off sheepishly, “was that all? I mean it’s all so strange and mysterious…” Tiffany thought of it all as an intriguing mystery that needs solved, “...but we should talk about-”  
“We’ll do it at my house, but not today, I’m going to sleep tonight… I didn’t sleep too well after I left.” Nathan rubbed his eyes and headed home, splitting off from Tiffany about 5 minutes in. She had been talking about something uninteresting to Nathan so he politely listened while he zoned out.  
Nathan slipped his shoes off and headed upstairs, putting his bag next to his desk and collapsed on his bed. He quickly fell asleep and the Jack Frost doll climbed onto the bed as well.


	4. The Angel Rises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What Happens when we introduce outsiders to a game? Will they sympathize? Or will they even care?

Nathan was floating in a vast expanse of darkness, he was just dreaming again. He felt nothing around him, although he could feel a pulling force behind his back. He struggled to rotate his body but eventually the pulling force was below his feet. Nathan’s legs shook as they touched an invisible platform, he looked around for any signs of something else, but everywhere he looked he saw black yet he could see his own body clearly. “What the? How am I the only thing with color?”   
There was a chuckle from behind him and Nathan spun around, almost losing his balance. There was a man standing there, his pale skin glaring against the black world around them. His icy blue eyes gleamed from under the man’s shaggy golden blond hair.   
“Ah, so you’re the one HE’S afraid of? You’re just a child…” His gaze drifted to Nathan’s chest, “… ah, but you have that power… although it has yet to be fully awakened… Curious…” His voice was soft and warm, almost too comforting.   
“Who are you, and where am I?” Nathan was tense, something was wrong with this man. Everything about him seemed to draw you in and that scared Nathan.   
“Ah, I won’t bother with a silly Pseudonym… My name is one you’ve no doubt heard before… I am the Adversary… YHWH’s most trusted Angel…” He smirked as he talked, “Although you are Arrogant to God… yet you don’t seem to notice that…”   
“Wait… You’re Satan?” Nathan was still tense; if Satan was still an angel then he was safe, for now.   
“So you do know something… You see… YHWH has lost interest in the humans and is trying to release a being to make their end… However the other deities aren’t so thrilled about the aspect…”   
“Wait, so are we just some toy to him?” Nathan knew deities who would play with humans, but to go so far as to bring about the end of humans was a new level. “Did he not think that others would oppose him?”   
“Basically, without anyone to keep him under control he’s gotten rather power hungry,” Satan smirked. Nathan was easy to lead, “but with how there are rumors of his ex-‘wife’ running about he’s interested in tracking her down…” Satan touched Nathan’s forehead, breaking Nathan’s train of thought. “Oh how… Ironic? Let’s go with that…”   
Nathan shook his head trying to gather his thoughts, “What was that?” Satan was toying with him now, and Nathan’s guard was up.   
“Oh just curious what your persona will evolve into… Philemon has quite the talent…” Satan ran his hand through his hair, the golden locks almost shimmering in the blackness. “I’m not here to harm you, in fact I’m trying to help… you see, this is a place similar to limbo, although since you’re not dead you can’t enter limbo…” he chuckled, throwing Nathan on edge. “Do say hello to my old friend Akuma for me… it’s been too long since we talked… You’ll see him soon enough…” In a flash of vibrantly white feathers Satan had disappeared, leaving merely an echo, “Don’t die on me Arrogant One…”   
Nathan’s body jerked in his chair, Akuma, Nameless, and Belladonna had gathered in the Velvet Room to attend to Nathan’s recovery.   
“Ah, I can hear it… He seems like he’s alright… there are still some irregularities but they seem to be permanent…” Nameless played out the Soul Sonata from Nathan’s soul in the air.   
“We should give him time after he wakes up though…”Belladonna stared at Nathan, reading his Psyche, “I can’t tell what happened to him”   
“Ugh…” Nathan slowly blinked his eyes open, the transition from that world of black to the Velvet Room was startling to say the least.   
“Oh good, he’s alive…” Akuma’s tone was harsh, the irritation in his voice was matched in her facial expressions.   
“Now, now Akuma, he has nothing to do with that persona yet… besides, it’s unfair to treat him so inhospitably…” Igor said, seeing the agitation twist around Akuma’s face.   
“Akuma? … Oh, ouch…” Nathan rubbed his temples, “an old friend wanted to say hello…” Nathan needed to stop thinking, the more he thought the worse he felt.   
The gentle smile that had been gracing Belladonna’s face twisted into a scowl, “oh does he… Just what we need… Him getting in the way…”   
Akuma walked away from Nathan, “if he thinks he can protect HIM then oh… I’m going to pluck him myself…” Akuma’s voice was even more harsh; whatever happened between them left some marks. He got up and left the Velvet Room.  
Nameless laughed, “oh so he’s still alive? Who would’ve thought that HE would have gotten tired of the back talking…” He shook his head, ‘staring’ at Nathan, “So what did he tell you?”   
Nathan sat up straight, his arms still wobbly under his weight, “I... don’t…” He had been unable to recall anything but then the parting words echoed through his memory. “Don’t die on me Arrogant One…” He tried remembering more but only got sharp pains, “that really all I can remember… I’m sorry…”   
Belladonna helped Nathan lay back down, “it’s all right, they shouldn’t be pressuring you so soon…” She shot a glare at Nameless, who was rather unconcerned for Nathan’s health.   
Akuma re-entered the room carrying a larger figurine than normal. He sat it down on a corner table, and then joined the others.   
“What did you make now Akuma?” Belladonna looked at the figurine, “that’s rather large for a Persona…” This figurine was easily five times the size of the other figurines he had made.   
The figure was of a toned female, the robe that flowed around her almost made her look Greek. The olive tone of its skin stood out against the sky blue robe. She had large wings that started out white but turned brown at the tips. Its shoulder length blond hair flowed around its face, contrasting to the blue eyes. The upper arms of the figurine were scarred, almost as if the tools of the artist slipped. The more Nathan the fuzzier the figure became.  
Akuma pointed to Nathan, it had been forged while Nathan was still comatose. “I had the base already, the statue is new”  
“But I’ve never seen it before, and I didn’t summon anything since the bus accident…” Nathan was confused, which only compounded the headache and fatigue.   
Nameless chuckled, “whoever you met must have awakened its power, it is a primed Persona… a manifestation of your soul’s desire…” Nameless could feel the power emanating out of the figurine. “Granted you’d probably destroy yourself trying to pull it out anytime soon…”   
“So that is the Arrogant One?” Igor had approached the figurine, “it is quite the resemblance…” Igor smiled gently, knowledge flowing back to him. “I always admired her story…”   
Belladonna tried to touch it but received a large shock knocking her down, “Ow, Son of a… Lock It up Akuma; if he shouldn’t use it then we can’t have it in the Velvet Room…” she glared at the figurine.   
Igor chuckled at Belladonna’s shock, “well, look at you actually caring about Nathan…” He smirked, even though he knew Belladonna much better.   
Belladonna got up and dusted herself off, “oh shut it, I don’t want that eyesore in this room… Besides it’s been three days, shouldn’t he be getting home and doing his homework to make up for it?”  
Akuma walked to the door out, “the three days I will excuse since he was comatose but no more. He is awake, so he needs to do his work…” He pushed through the door, letting it slam shut.   
Igor looked after Akuma, “oh child… when will you learn… Nathan I am sorry for his rudeness…” Motioning to the duo he talked softly, “they will ensure that you get home safely as well as watch over you overnight… don’t worry you’ll bounce back” He sat down in his chair.  
Nameless got up out of his chair in the corner, “he hates everyone but Igor… you’ll get used to it…” He walked over to NAthan placing his hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “Do get rest tonight, you’ll need it badly…”   
They walked Nathan to the bed and put him into it. Nathan’s body ached in protest to every movement. After he was situated in the chair the group left the area, Belladonna leaving a Pyro Jack doll to serve as a nightlight and to retrieve them if needed.   
Nathan tried to relax but it took some time before he drifted off and returned to regular sleep. He was still restless for the rest of the night..


	5. The Worry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After such a hard 2 days the exhaustion hit's all at once, But the game doesn't stop for anything.

When Nathan woke up he knew the immediate smell of sanitized plastic. He rubbed his face, knocking off an oxygen tube off his face. He looked around the room, he knew this hospital, it was the one his parents worked at right outside of town. He immediately hit the nurse call button.  
It was a minute or two when a nurse came in, “Oh you’re finally awake. I thought it weird when the physician decided to remove the feeding tube…” It was Nathan’s father, he was alerted when the other nurses saw the call light. Contrasting what most parents would do he still sounded distant even in front of his child in a hospital bed. “I’ll go page your mother…”  
Nathan tried to remain calm, his dad’s distance was anything but comforting. Nathan had only been in the hospital as a patient once when he was little, but he could remember much of that.  
“Nathan!” His mother burst into the room, coming to kneel down beside the bed. “You’re awake, thank god,” she held him as close as she could, “We need to let the doctor know. He said you were just exhausted, with so many accidents in one day we should’ve been there to talk to you…”  
“It’s fine mom,” Nathan was worried they would be distressed if they needed to stay home with him. “I should go back to school soon…” he knew that if he could go back to normalcy everything would turn out fine.  
“Ah yes,” the doctor rolled in his Wheelchair. “I’m doctor Lu young man,” this doctor was a pale older Chinese man. “If you’re feeling vibrant again you should be able to return to school,” Dr. Lu chuckled to himself, “ah to be young and able to bounce back so quickly. Any mysterious dreams while you were out?” His smile led Nathan to think this Dr. knew something more than he said.  
“Oh, uh… I think so,” Nathan knew better than to say he met Satan in a dream. Especially in front of a man he just met and his parents, “It’s kinda hazy…”  
“It’s okay, they say dreams are the key to the subconscious. We are only to know them ourselves to lead us to a better life.” Dr. Lu spoke about such matters as if they were old secret wisdoms.  
“Do you really think it’s alright to just send him back to school? He just woke up after 2 days.” Nathan’s mother was more concerned about Nathan’s well being than some dreams he may or may not have had.  
“If Dr. Lu says it’s okay then he’ll be fine, we have jobs to do and he needs to be in school.” Nathan’s father looked over, “or do you want him to end up a delinquent?” not bothering to listen for an answer he turned around and headed for the nurses station.  
Dr. Lu went and stopped the IVs and unhooked the heart monitor, removing the actual IVs from Nathan with great care. “He’ll be fine, he’s sprightly and young, besides we may need the room for later.” Dr. Lu was more caring in his voice than Nathan’s father, but that wasn’t hard to do.  
“Mom, I’ll be fine, I just need to be away from the hospital.” Nathan was accustomed to the hospital but something about Dr. Lu bothered him.  
After his mother and Dr. Lu left Nathan got dressed, his clothes being the green shirt and jeans from the day he was almost late to school. He waited outside his mother’s office while she put her work up, before long they were on the way home.   
As he entered the house he noticed that his homework was neatly piled on the kitchen counter. His mother Tiffany had dropped off notes and homework the couple of days he was out. Once he was fully inside he heard the familiar noise of the car exiting the driveway.  
“Oh boy, I should work on this homework…” He grabbed the small stack of papers and headed upstairs to his desk. Setting the papers down he noticed the Pyro Jack statue and was reminded of the Velvet Room. “Ugh I don’t want to even think of that place…” he turned around and went to brush his teeth, the taste in his mouth was just awful.  
For once Nathan was happy to be doing schoolwork, having nothing stressing him. He finished all the homework and headed to bed, it had gotten late and could hear his parents coming home. His dreams were peaceful over the night and he woke up before his alarm again.  
After a quick breakfast Nathan was off to school, the morning sun was bright and the world seemed more active to him. It was Friday so just one day of school left to tackle this week. As he got to the street crossing he met up with a woman with chunky turquoise jewelry.  
“Good Morning” her voice was chipper, “it’s a beautiful Friday morning.” She smiled gently, “you must be happy for that.”  
“Good morning,” Nathan was caught off guard, “Uh… yeah I guess.” He looked away as another woman approached, but noticed a glint in her hand. “Look out!” but the woman was already prepared to strike with a knife.  
There was a crack of silver and sparks as the all too familiar head splitting headache returned. Nathan clenched his fist as the other woman fell to the ground, bleeding from her wrist.  
“Oh Goodness,” the Turquoise woman turned around and tried to help the woman who was bleeding.  
“Don’t touch me you Witch!” The other woman exclaimed, “and stay away from my husband!” The woman ran off still clenching her wrist but leaving her own knife behind.  
“Tsk tsk…” the turquoise woman, “another wife with jealousy problems…” she turned back to Nathan. “ Oh are you alright dear? Don’t worry I’m not a witch, I’m a counselor, she must not have liked what her husband has been going through… But how did she cut herself?” She was puzzled as to what had happened and in all the excitement they had missed the crossing light.  
“Oh uh… I’m fine, just an intense headache is all…” Nathan turned and waited for the light to turn again.  
“Well if you ever decide you or your family need counseling i just opened my clinic down the street” She smiled back at Nathan before they crossed the street and went their separate ways.  
As Nathan approached the school he could see Mr. Akuma standing around, seemingly waiting on Nathan. Once Nathan was close to him Akuma smacked the top of Nathan’s head with a folder and a card fell out, “Jack Ripper huh? You need to be careful with all these summonings or you’ll end up in the hospital again.  
Nathan picked up the card, it indeed said ‘XIII JACK RIPPER’. “I don’t try to summon, it just happens…” Nathan rubbed his temples, “isn’t there an easier way to summon them, one without headaches”  
Akuma chuckled, “as long as you summon them out physically it’s going to hurt, you and Tiffany meet me after school” Akuma turned into the school first, heading for the main office.  
Nathan headed straight for the classroom and set up his desk. He felt okay for the most part now that the headache had subsided but still found himself in a fog.  
“Nathan!” Tiffany’s voice rang in Nathan’s head waking him up to the outside world once again. “You’re okay!” Tiffany was concerned since Nathan was in the hospital for a few days.  
“Yeah, obviously…” Nathan’s headache started up again, but he knew better than to go to the nurse again. “Sorry, the Doctor said I was just exhausted...” Nathan took his seat, “thanks for bringing my homework to the house.”  
“Oh it was no problem, I saw you help that woman earlier, her daughter actually walked with me...” Tiffany trailed off, “I wonder why she didn’t walk with her mom?” Tiffany shrugged, “oh well, she’s a middle school, I can’t wait for middle school”  
“You realize that means we will have to get up even earlier…” Nathan knew that Tiffany would sleep in even more than she already does. “Besides why would a middle schooler be walking to school so late?”  
“Hmm… good question,” Tiffany seemed to be avoiding the fact she’d have to wake up earlier. “They don’t start till 7:30 so I guess she doesn’t mind being late…”  
Mr. Akuma had sat down at his desk, “Okay settle down class, everyone to their seats.” The class managed to quiet down, “now I don’t want to hear rumors about what has happened these past few days, Nathan has rejoined us so we should just worry about your studies.” Mr. Akuma walked up to Nathan’s desk, “homework Nathan?”  
“Oh yeah...” Nathan pulled out the small stack of papers, “here…” Nathan handed over the papers as Mr. Akuma smirked.  
“It wasn’t actually due yet but glad to see you’re proactive,” Mr. Akuma sat the papers on his desk and returned to the chalkboard. “Now then let’s start with math…” After the usual groans from the class the school day started as normal.  
The after school bell came all too soon for Nathan, who had gotten lost in the mythology rant Mr. Akuma had gone on during history. Nathan gathered his belongings and approached Tiffany, “Mr. Akuma wants to talk to us...” Nathan still had no idea what for but it must be important. They immediately approached his desk, “Well, what did you need us for?”  
“Ah, eager aren’t you? Give me a minute to run things out to my car… go meet up with Shawna, you met her this morning didn’t you Tiffany?”  
“Huh?” Tiffany was confused, “Oh that middle school girl!” Tiffany headed out the classroom door and poked her head back in. “Nathan let’s go!” Tiffany led the way to the school gate.  
“How are you sure where to go?” Nathan was unsure that they’d run into this Shawna girl. He had yet to meet her even so he was going in blindly and that disturbed him.  
“Well it makes sense she’d be out here at the school gate,” Tiffany turned the corner and waved. “Hey Shawna!”


	6. The Death Awakens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where does everything we suppress go to? What about our own shadows?

Shawna was a stark contrast to her mother, she had black and white striped jeans, a mesh top and a denim jacket embellished with patches. Her face was in a grumpy frown with intense dark eye makeup framed with a black choppy bob. She was considerably paler than her mother, but with still a hint of gold tones. “Oh it’s you, and another squirt…” she was barely taller than them but she had apparently placed herself on a pedestal.  
Nathan stopped a little farther back than Tiffany trying to match Shawna’s features to her supposed mother’s. “Um, I’m Nathan…” he was unsure how to think of this newcomer, “Nathan Gildon”  
“Ah, Shawna Michtan, you’re the one who saved my mother...” Shawna shrugged, looking Nathan over, “I guess I should thank you even though I didn’t understand it.” she sounded almost like Nathan’s father.  
“Are you not close to her either?” Tiffany was confused, as usual when someone is distant from family.  
“She seemed rather nice to me,” Nathan knew that things happen but was curious, “she was gentle as well, trying to help the woman who tried attacking her.”  
“She’s fine… Just stupidly supportive…” Shawna shook her head, “How can I be rebellious when she supports everything I do?” She recomposed herself, “Nevermind all that it’s not important, now where’s this teacher of yours?”  
Akuma round the corner as she said it, “ah you seem to get along well” He chuckled to himself, “now should we head to our destination?” Akuma led the small group down the road to a nearby park, “now where is a good entry point?”  
“What exactly are we doing?” Nathan was curious as this park was less than popular at this time of day. “And what are you looking for?”  
“We’re gonna train you in a place where you won’t put yourself at risk,” Akuma finally found what he was looking for. “Let’s go, this way kids” Akuma led the way to an open sewer canal.  
“Okay that’s just gross,” Shawna was not impressed by Akuma's tastes in field trips. “I’m not going in there.”  
“Well it’s good that we only need to step inside quickly,” Akuma took out some chalk and started drawing on the ground. After a few minutes the canal had a magic seal posted on the walls and ceiling. “Now we’ll need to be careful, so step lightly now.” Akuma pushed Shawna over the seals and she disappeared into the canal. “Any other stragglers?”  
Nathan and Tiffany looked at each other before stepping into the ring of seals, feeling a shift of energy they could not explain.  
“Um… why does everything feel... Fuzzy? Tingly?” Nathan was at a loss for words to describe the feeling of the canal. He turned to the entrance as Akuma materialized and a gate shut behind him.  
“That’s because we aren’t in physical reality anymore,” Akuma laughed at the look of indignation on Shawna’s face. “Welcome to the underbelly of the collective unconscious… You can call it Mementos…”  
“Why is it in a sewer?” Shawna was offended that she had been pushed in here unwillingly, “and won’t other people follow us in here?”  
Akuma laughed at Shawna’s anger, “no, we can’t be followed unless they have the same power, which I highly doubt anyone in this town would awaken just yet.” He shook his head, “As for why it’s a sewer is up to the public. That’s just how they think of the underground, in some places it’s a cave network but most towns it appears as a sewer.”  
Tiffany squatted, “what does that even mean? Collective unconscious? Mementos?” She shook her head. This information was making her head hurt.  
“Don’t sweat the details, it will grow on you and you’ll understand it more clearly as time goes on.” Akuma still chuckled at the confusion he had caused, “now follow me.” He led the trio into the depths of the sewer system.  
A cat in boots jumped out brandishing a rapier, “now then, this happened faster than I expected… Now Nathan focus on the cloaked figure and call her to you.” Akuma stepped out of the way to allow Nathan to take the lead.  
Nathan took the advice but cringed as he focused expecting the headache, “o-okay…” As soon as he saw the figure in his mind it materialized and opened it’s cloak, releasing a large wooden hammer then slammed into the cat, flattening it. As the figure disappeared there was a blue card, I-CAIT SITH.  
“Well that was easier than I expected but good job.” Akuma was impressed but wouldn’t show it. “Now then let’s continue, our goal should be up ahead.” Akuma retook his spot at the lead.  
“So what’s your story? What’s that Velvet Room place? And why involve me?” Shawna had been ruminating on Akuma ignoring her.  
Akuma sighed, “I’m just another visitor to the Velvet Room. My past is unimportant, I’m just working there temporarily.” He shook his head, “The Velvet Room exists in the regular collective unconscious, granted nobody knows where, and it normally just assists people in having a fulfilling life.”  
“Well this does anything but makes me feel ‘Fulfilled’ in my life, we’re in a sewer for god’s sake” She was getting grumpier the farther they went in.  
“We happen to be here for you,” Akuma laughed at the irony, “It was decided that you should awaken in Mementos versus awakening in the physical world and facing the turmoil these two have faced.”  
“Wait so there was this easier method of summoning here and they just allowed me to summon in reality? Nathan was almost offended, he could have avoided the hospital stay if they could’ve gotten him here.  
“Well you happened to get targeted before we could get enough of you together.” Akuma shrugged, “It’s fascinating though, they’ve never seen someone able to warp the physical world close enough to the collective unconscious to summon. That’s why Tiffany could summon when she did, you had summoned minotaur and warped the space allowing for Bast to come through”  
“Targeted?” Tiffany was concerned, “Who would be targeting us? And Why? We’re just children...” This news was disheartening to say the least.  
“That’s… well, the million dollar question.” Akuma turned around, “if we knew we would stop it but Philemon seems confident that the targeting has been called off. So you should be safe for now. So then Shawna, come on up.”  
“This is a load of bull,” Shawna made her way past Nathan and Tiffany to stand in front of a mirror next to Akuma. “Hate to break it to ya but this mirror’s busted.” The mirror reflected a similar looking Shawna but her hair pulled to one side and held with a red headband. The clothes were also different, with an oversized neon green sweater and tight jeans that ended well over the ankles. “I’d never leave the house looking like that, that’s how the happy girls dress…” The mirror began to blur.  
“Oh shut it,” Akuma was growing concerned “this isn’t necessarily you as you perceive you, but what you repress… Part of you wants to fit in, but you have the rebel desire to be yourself, that’s what will help you here.” Akuma stepped back as the reflection seemed to calm down.  
“So what? I’d rather be different than be like everyone else. I want to solidify myself, unlike my mother I know people never change.” The reflection seemed to laugh, “what’s so funny?”  
“So you’re just gonna stand there and stick to that?” The reflection spoke, its eyes glowing gold, but it’s voice was distorted. “You dare to question the power of transformation? After everything mother has ever said?”  
“Don’t bring mother into this, she’s the reason I rebel, I can’t stand all the supportiveness...” Shawna smirked, “So why not rebel together maybe then we can transform?”  
“We shall rebel and transform those who get in the way,” The mirror fell into pieces, revealing a black haired tanned woman, her hair like snakes. “I am Cihuacōātl, let us walk into the battle of womanhood…”  
Akuma coughed, “well then, let us continue..” He let Shawna take the lead, prepared to warn of incoming demons. They made another five minutes before running into a boy with pointed ears in a green tunic and tights. “Let’s see how your power stacks up Shawna”  
Shawna did not hesitate, “Cihuacōātl!” the figure quickly appeared and her hair stood up as it shot electricity out. It knocked the boy down and he appeared stunned. “Someone else deal with this…”  
“Okay… Bast!” The cat woman appeared and swung her hand, releasing a blade of wind. This just bounced off the boy barely missing Tiffany. “Nathan? Sorry…” she was disappointed that her actions did not seem to do much.  
“It’s fine,” Nathan had to focus, “Ophelia!” the cloaked figure appeared, her mask rotating as the area around the boy warped. The boy just seemed to shrug this off.  
“God, I’ll just do this myself,” Shawna focused and summoned Cihuacōātl, her hair once again shooting electricity. This caused the boy to get knocked down again before disappearing in a blotch of black liquid. “Ew, what was that?”  
“That was Puck, another one of the demons here in mementos. As you’ve seen everyone has a strength and weakness. Puck happened to be weak to electricity, reflects wind and is resistant to Psi.” Akuma laughed, this being a successful teaching experience. “Now then let’s head back” Akuma turned around to lead the way back, “oh wait, Nathan try summoning Atlas, but focus more on the globe and use the command scan”  
“Uh okay…” Nathan attempted to scan the way Akuma wanted, focusing on the globe. “Atlas!” Atlas stepped forward from Nathan but this time much smaller, almost Nathan’s size. A hemisphere appeared in front of Nathan revealing a map of the Path they had taken with a few dots moving around, “Uh what am I looking at?”  
“Atlas is what we call a support Persona, what you’re seeing is a map of Mementos that we have explored and Demons on that path.” Akuma started on the way back, “now then let’s return and try to avoid fights.”  
They made their way back in 10 minutes only fighting another Puck demon on the way. Akuma unlocked the gate, “well I call this a success, I need to clean up the area so make your way back home, you’ll find you are more fatigued than you realize.” The gang left the canal and said goodbye before taking their separate ways.


End file.
